Energotrans signs contract for combined cycle power plant in Melnik

Horni Pocaply, Central Bohemia, May 22 (CTK) - Company Energotrans signed a contract for the construction of a combined cycle power plant in the energy complex Elektrarna Melnik for almost Kc14bn, Energotrans board chairman Miroslav Krpec and energy group CEZ board member Jan Kalina told CTK today.

Energotrans in part of the CEZ group.

Operation will be launched in 2029. Preparatory work has already begun, and construction will get underway next year, the representatives said.

The Melnik heating plant supplies heat approximately to half of Prague, and also to Melnik and Neratovice. The new source will be low-emission.

The total investment in the site's transformation will exceed Kc50bn. All coal-fired power plants will be shut down by 2030. "We are signing a contract that is a second step towards a comprehensive transformation of the site," said Krpec.

The first step was the project of a waste-to-energy facility, where design work is already underway and actual construction is due to begin soon, he added.

The facility will have three gas turbines and is expected to produce around 730 GWh of electricity and up to two petajoules (PJ) of heat annually. Both heat and electricity will be supplied from individual facilities and from all of them together, so it is very advantageous for adapting to the market situation, Kalina said.

At least one more combined cycle facility with roughly double the capacity will be built nearby in the next few years. The construction of a third source has yet to be decided.

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